“I don’t think California is looking to pick a fight. We’re just ready to fight if someone tries to stop us from moving forward some progressive values that have helped so many Californians,” he told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Wednesday evening.

Becerra, a 12-term congressman and House Democratic Caucus chairman, was tapped by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) to replace Kamala Harris as attorney general. Harris, a Democrat, was elected to the Senate.

He didn’t dispute Maddow’s characterization of California as a potential epicenter of Trump opposition, much like Texas has opposed President Obama's agenda.

“We’re not interested in having folks try to stop us. We’ll look at the Constitution of the United States, and we’ll look at our California constitution and recognize that as any other states, we will do whatever the U.S. Constitution allows us to do to protect our people and advance our interests.”

California Democrats are already mapping out ways to block Trump's potential actions — state lawmakers have introduced legislation to oppose mass incarceration of illegal immigrants, a registry of Muslims and require the administration to get California voters' approval to build a wall on the border with Mexico.